The invention relates to a gate for a sliding window or door.
Sliding windows are common in typical residential and commercial buildings. Generally, the windows comprise a window frame and a plurality of sliding windows situated therein. Typically the sliding windows are frictionally held within the frame in tracks. Each window can be slid along the track to various positions relative to the frame. As such, the window elements collectively can be arranged to fully close an area of the window frame or to open an area within the frame, thereby allowing air to move between the outside and inside of the building.
When the window is open, many things can pass through the open area, including burglars, children, adults, pets and other objects. In high-rise apartment buildings there is always the potential danger of a child (or adult) falling through an open window.
Previously, barriers have been installed around window frames to inhibit things passing through window openings. Gates can be installed around the window frame; however such frames span the entire window frame and thus block the view outside through closed parts of the window. Examples of such gates are described in Canadian Patents 2,003,533 and 1,144,428.
There remains a need for a window gate which addresses the shortcomings of the prior art.
The present invention provides a gate for a window frame having windows. The invention comprises first and second gate elements. The first gate element is attachable at its far end to the frame and the second gate element is attachable at its far end to one of the windows. The gate elements are coupled together to allow the gate elements to slide along each other and to provide a barrier in a space created between the window and the window frame when the sliding window is in an open position.
It is a further aspect of the invention to provide a gate comprising first and second gate elements, with each gate element having a substantially U-shape configuration comprising arms attached to a base. The first gate element can be attached at its open end to the frame and the second gate element can be attached at its open end to the sliding window. The first and second gate elements are coupled together allowing the gate elements to slide along each other and providing a barrier in the space created between said window and said window frame.
It is a further aspect of the invention to provide a gate comprising a plurality of substantially rectangular-shaped gate elements. The gate elements are oriented adjacent to one another in a side-by-side arrangement. Each gate element is pivotally attached along its adjacent edge to the adjacent edge of the adjacent gate element. The exterior ends of the gate can be pivotally attached to the frame and the sliding window.